Discord Safety Tools

A Quick Reference Guide

Playing roleplaying games is fun, especially when you’re able to share your stories with an audience that is just as invested as you are. However, making sure that the storyteller, players, and audience (those players reading a scene, but not participating in it) feels safe is important. This is a quick reference guide on how to incorporate safety tools into the game to make sure that everyone is having fun.

Safety Tools: What are they?

Sometimes games have content or situations where a player or storyteller may feel stressed out, unsafe, or otherwise not having fun. Safety tools are a way for players, storytellers, and the audience to communicate and check-in before, during, and after a game in order to make sure everyone is still having fun, and to provide the right support when needed.

Communication and respect

The key to safety tools is communication. There needs to be an open and respectful line of communication for these to work. As a storyteller, player, or member of the audience you can facilitate open and respectful communication by actively listening to everyone, implementing actions when asked while not prying (nobody owes you their trauma as explanation), and actively checking in before, during, and after a game.

Before the Game Begins

Communication before game starts are a great way to begin communication, set expectations on the kind of story and play, and establish lines and veils.

Lines and Veils

Lines and veils are used to set and handle boundaries on content in a game. Lines are hard limits on content, things that the storyteller, players, and audience don’t want to engage in. Setting up a line means that content won’t show up in the game at all. Veils are soft limits, things that are ok "behind a curtain" or when they "cut-to-black." Setting up a veil means that the content might be in the game but not spotlighted, described in great detail, or set up with advanced warnings.

During the Game: Question Mark, X, Warning, and O Reactions

Question Mark (?), X, Warning (!), and O reactions are check-in tools during our game. They can be facilitated by adding the reaction directly on its own line or as a response to someone else's message.

The Question Mark (?) reaction is used to check in with the players during the scene to make sure that everyone is still having fun. This is especially useful in tense or stressful scenes to check in with everyone to make sure that the players are okay, even if their characters are not.
The X reaction can be used at any point if anyone is uncomfortable with the content happening in a scene or out of game. When the X reaction is used by using the X reaction in chat or as a reaction to another post, the room is immediately paused while the a member of staff checks in and determines next steps. The storyteller and other players can change, rewind, skip the content, or change the subject.
The Warning (!) reaction can be used at any point if a participant feels like they are headed towards an X in the scene. When the Warning card is used by typing a Warning symbol in the chat or as a reaction to the scene, the storyteller and other players can change the content or have the scene "fade to black."
The O reaction can be used at any point if a participant wants to continue with the content. When the O card is used as a reaction, the storyteller and the other players are still ok to continue with the content. O reactions can also be regularly be prompted by a Question Mark in chat or as a reaction to check-in if everyone is still ok with the content.
Before a tense, stressful, or scene of concern, please check in with the players involved with the scene to make sure that everyone is on the same page and communicating.

Open Door

The Open Door is the assurance that someone can leave or take a break from the game for their own safety without being judged.

Breaks

For longer games or if there is intense content or emotions, having a short built-in break is recommended to allow people to stay focused and process any emotions or moments.

After the Game

Emotions and stress from the game can bleed over into post-game life, especially emotions and stress that your character feels. This can affect the enjoyment of the game, as well as out-of-game relationships between players and storyteller if not worked through. Being open and honest about where the game begins and ends, and being conscious of which feelings belong to the player and which are just bleed, helps to mitigate the effects.

Debriefing

Debriefing as a group is a great way to reflect on the game, identify possible issues, highlight the fun things to continue, and work through potential bleed. Debriefing can happen in voice chat after the game or via the group chat in the days following.

Stars and Wishes

Stars and wishes are used to reflect on the session and communicate feedback in a positive and forward-facing way. At the end of the month, go around and get everyone to state a star and wish. Stars are things that the participants really enjoyed and loved about the game. This could include a particular moment of roleplay, an encounter created by the storyteller, or anything else that stuck out as something awesome. Wishes are things that the participants would like to see in future sessions. This could include particular interactions between characters, potential story moments and development, or anything else that could make the game even better in the future.

Aftercare

Privately as a group after the game, check-in with everyone to see if they are doing ok, and how they are feeling about the game. This is an open way for everyone to decompress, talk through, and process the events of the session. Encourage everyone to practice their own forms of self-care, and that their mental health comes first.

Audience Safety

Because of the interactive and immersive nature the game, your audience (those players reading the scene) become another participant in the game! Therefore, safety tools can and should be extended to them.

Open Door

The Open Door is also extended to the audience. State at the beginning of scene and periodically throughout that they can leave at any point for their own safety and well-being without being judged.

Content Warnings

Consider using a banner warning about potentially uncomfortable content before a scene starts.

Question Mark (?), X, Warning (!), and O Reactions

Question Mark, X, Warning, and O reaction can also be used by the audience.
When the X reaction is used by typing an “X” or added as a reaction, the storyteller and players can change, rewind, or skip the content.
When the Warning reaction is used by using the Warning sign reaction in the chat or added to a message, the storyteller and players can change the content or shift the scene to "fade to black."
When the O card is used by using the O reaction in the chat, the storyteller and the players are still ok to continue with the content.

Audience Bleed and Decompression

Audience can experience bleed as well, so having a space for them to discuss and decompress is recommended. This can be done in a post-game in voice chat, or in an OOC channel.

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